United Nations International Children's Fund

The United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF) is specifically mandated to protect and promote children’s rights. UNICEF supports states in the ratification and implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and its protocols, i.e. the UN human rights instrument especially dedicated to children.

The CRC specifically refers to UNICEF as regards its implementation. UNICEF supports the work of the Committee on the Rights of the Child by contributing to CRC monitoring. UNICEF participates in the Committee's review of submitted reports, including working with the states to identify implementation strategies in response to the Committee's recommendations. In an earlier stage, UNICEF Field Offices facilitate broad consultations within the states to maximize the accuracy and impact of reports to the Committee. They often assist the states in organizing major consultations prior to drafting their reports.

Furthermore, UNICEF considers human rights as a foundation for its own and the general development work. The organisation is committed to support girls' and boys' education for so-called “life skills”, i.e. HIV/AIDS prevention; health education; violence prevention; peace building education; education for development; and to provide information about the correlations between human rights and social issues. Teaching human rights as life skills means that young people around the world learn about their rights and demonstrate their commitment to ensure that these rights are met.

UNICEF’s publication “Human rights for children and women: How UNICEF helps make them a reality” can be downloaded here.

UNICEF maintains two Regional Offices, one for Eastern and Southern Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, and one for West and Central Africa in Dakar, Senegal. Furthermore there are Field Offices in most of the African countries. Contact details and more information: www.unicef.org/about/structure/index.html